1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image processing apparatus for processing a color image signal, such as a copying machine.
1. Related Background Art
A color processing system in a conventional color copying machine is constructed as shown in FIG. 2. Particularly, an image of a color original 1 is opto-electrically converted into an electrical signal by a color charge coupled device (CCD) 6. An analog/digital (A/D) converter 7 converts red (R), green (G) and blue (B) color analog signals from the CCD 6 into digital signals. A color processing circuit 8 forms yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (Bk) color signals based on the output signals of the A/D converter 7. A driver 9 is used for recording a reproduced color image, for example, on a recording paper, in accordance with the signals from the color processing circuit 8.
A printer is constructed, for example, as shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, a rotary polygon mirror 11 reflects (scans), for example, a laser beam corresponding to a color image signal (Y, M, C and Bk). A light reflected by the polygon mirror 11 is reflected by a mirror 12 to be applied to a photosensitive drum 14 which is developed with each color (Y, M, C and Bk) toner by a rotary developer 13. Each color toner on the drum 14 is transferred on a transfer sheet 16 wound about a transfer drum 15 and thereafter, the toner is fixed on the transfer sheet 16 by a fixing roller 17.
Such a color processing system of a color copying machine is broadly divided into a reader including the CCD 6 and the A/D converter 7 and a printer including the color processing circuit 8 and the driver 9.
A single color processing circuit is used in such a color copying machine to effect color correction at the reader and the printer.
There arises a problem, however, if a plurality of readers are intended to be used for a single printer. As shown in FIG. 3, a reader is constructed of an original support glass 2 on which an original 1 is placed, a lighting system 3, a focusing element array 4 for reading the original 1 and producing the image, an infrared cut filter 5, and a CCD 6 for converting a light from the focusing element array 4 via the filter 5 into an electrical signal. In such a construction, there are many scatterings in manufacture, such as of a color temperature of a lamp constituting the lighting system 3, of a spectral transmission factor of the focusing element array 4, of a spectral transmission factor of the infrared cut filter 5, and of a spectral transmission factor of each R, G or B filter of the contact type color CCD 6. These scatterings determine an overall spectral sensitivity characteristics of each reader. As a result, if a plurality of readers are used in reading the same color image original, each reader may output a different value so that if the printer uses the output value as it is, a different color copy may be obtained.